CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

On the way to the room, Amanda passed by the umbrella rack, where Sarah stood on her tiptoes in a ballerina pose.

“Hi there,” Amanda whispered.

“I’m a dancer.”

“Yes, you are. I just had tea with your mom. She loves and misses you so much.”

Sarah’s big blue eyes turned and stared. “Mom seems happier since you took her to Zephyr Land. You’re helping Mom and Aunt Opal, aren’t you?”

Sarah’s tiny voice struck right into Amanda’s heart.

“I’m trying to,” Amanda whispered. “But it’s complicated—”

“That’s what grown-ups say when it’s too hard.”

Amanda smiled. Out of the mouths of babes.

“I’m going to do my absolute best,” she said. “But I need to find out why they died first. The same person may be trying to stop me and Jake.”

“Didn’t the bad man kill them too?”

“Bad man?”

Sarah nodded. “The one who killed me.”

“What?”

Amanda knelt down. “Come sit next to me for a minute. Take a break from your pirouette.”

Sarah sat cross-legged on the floor with an enthusiastic smile and energy only a five-year-old could have.

“Your mom said you died of natural causes,” Amanda began. “You had a fever that day—”

“Nope. The bad man came in to tell me a story.”

This was news. Amanda’s pulse raced. She hadn’t thought of questioning Sarah before, because Sarah’s spirit remained at the inn. Made no sense to connect her death to those at Zephyr Land until Pearl mentioned Sarah had died the same day as Becca.

“Tell me what happened. Did he give you anything to eat or drink?”

“Yes. He said it was pineapple juice, but it tasted funny.” She paused. “Sam wouldn’t quit barking. The man poured some juice on the floor, and Sam licked it up.”

Poison. Just like she thought.

“What did the man look like?” Amanda asked. “Tall, thin? Heavier? What color hair?”

“Thin. He looked tall, but I was lying down.”

“Did he have straight or wavy hair? Brown? Blond?”

Sarah shook her head, making her black ponytails swish in the air. “Wavy hair. It was red.”

Red. The only person on their suspicion list so far with red hair was Randall Kern. She knew it had to be him. Pulling out her cell phone, she Googled some photos of Randall from when he was in his glory days as a roller coaster designer.

“Sarah, I need you to listen to me carefully. I’m going to show you a picture of someone. You need to look closely. Tell me if he is the bad man who came into your room that night. Okay?”

She nodded.

Amanda expanded the picture of Randall Kern and held out her phone for Sarah to see. Sarah gasped and shrunk away upon seeing the image.

“That’s him,” she whimpered. “He’s the one.”

“He poisoned you, sweetie. Whatever he gave you didn’t show up on a tox screen.”

Amanda kept talking out loud, explaining her theory. Perhaps to practice for when she would tell Jake.

“Your mom didn’t want an autopsy done, so they declared your death an accident. I don’t know why Randall Kern wanted you dead—”

“I do.”

“You do? Why? You weren’t at the park, so why come to the inn and kill you?”

“Because Becca and I are twins.”

“I don’t get it,” Amanda said. She looked around, making sure Jake—or another inn guest—wasn’t watching her talking to the…air…and waving her phone around.

“After I drank the juice, he said twins knew things about each other. Could feel things. He didn’t want me to say anything to anyone. And I didn’t, until you came along. You’re the first one who has been able to hear me.”

Amanda’s eyes began to water. She was the first gifted person who had spoken to Sarah, and she’d been spending all her time trying to deny it. But if she could help people like Pearl and Sarah, why fight something that could help families?

Time for a reassessment.

“Thank you, sweetie,” Amanda said. “I know what I have to do now.”

“What?”

Amanda stood up, breathed in a breath of resilience. “I have to talk to Jake.”